A public meeting will take place on Friday as residents battle to save Whitland Waste Recycling Centre which is under threat of closure.

In January, the local County Council ran a consultation on budget proposals that would see a number of facilities in West Carmarthenshire shut or handed over to other organisations to manage, including Y Gat in St. Clears.

However, the possible closure of the award winning Whitland Waste Recycling Centre has raised concerns amongst locals that they will be left without adequate provision with many from the west of the county forced to travel miles to the nearest waste site.

Lisa Firth, Chair of the Taf Branch Labour Party said: “We are extremely disappointed that services in West Carmarthenshire are again facing the axe. There is huge local support to keep the open.

“It is the council's top performing site, closing it will mean local residents having to travel much much further to access facilities on the eastern side of Carmarthen and that is simply unacceptable to local council tax payers.”

Attending the meeting will be Carmarthenshire Labour Group Leader Clr. Rob James who is also opposing the proposal by the council.

He said: “The people of West Carmarthenshire need to send a strong and clear message to the Plaid leadership of Carmarthenshire Council that such cuts are not acceptable.

“The impact of closing this site will mean more fly tipping, and will impact on the County to maintain its record on recycling.

“Local residents already have to travel long distances to recycling glass for example, as Carmarthenshire County Council has failed to introduce a kerbside recycling scheme.”

A recent survey as part of Carmarthenshire County Council’s budget consultation sparked an overwhelming response, with almost three quarters of people who responded to a proposal to close Whitland Household Waste Recycling Centre, making a budget saving of £80,000 over three years, stating they strongly disagreed, and one in 10 respondents said they disagreed.

Only 14 per cent either agreed or strongly agreed, and three per cent held no opinion.

As a result of this feedback, the Executive Board has confirmed it is likely to withdraw this proposal.

However, suggestions made during the consultation about changing the opening hours and days will be looked in to.

Clr. David Jenkins, Executive Board Member for Resources, said: “We are very grateful to everyone for taking the time to have a say in our budget consultation.

“Having this feedback is hugely helpful to us as we look at ways of balancing the budget and making the savings we need over the next three years. We can now arrive at an informed decision based on responses we have received.

“We continue to face challenges and pressures on our resources, and it’s only right that we look at every area to see how we can better manage the resources we have available.

“Whilst we are still analysing the feedback, the proposal for Whitland HWRC in particular received a strong response from members of the public and as such we are likely to agree to withdraw it, possibly along with some others.

“We still have a lot of difficult decisions to make over the coming weeks, but I’m sure that those who felt strongly about the Whitland proposal will appreciate knowing how we are inclined to vote at Executive Board.”

Leader of the council, Cllr Emlyn Dole, added: “I’d like to thank all those who took part in the consultation, and for the useful feedback they provided.

“This provides us with a constructive way forward as we look to protect services for our most vulnerable people, whilst providing and investing in other services that communities want, need and deserve.”

Over 2,000 people shared their opinions as part of Carmarthenshire County Council’s budget consultation – the biggest response ever recorded.

The council asked for public opinion on a range of proposals as it works to identify £16.5million of savings over the next three years.

Whilst most of these savings will be made by internally, £2.2million of savings proposals that could potentially impact on service delivery were put to the public.

Results of that survey have now been analysed and Executive Board will meet on February 24 to decide which of the proposals should go forward to members of the Full Council for a final say.

The meeting will take place at 6.30 pm on Friday, February 14 at Whitland Town Hall, King Edward Street, Whitland.

All residents are invited to attend.